old man’s beard (?)
2004 NC Wildflower of the Year
2016 NC Wildflower of the Year
aka prairie aster, sneezewort aster, upland white aster, upland white goldenrod
garden pictures, more seed tick misery
old man’s beard (?)
2004 NC Wildflower of the Year
2016 NC Wildflower of the Year
aka prairie aster, sneezewort aster, upland white aster, upland white goldenrod
Love your photograph of the American goldfinch!!! Couldn’t be more perfect 🤩
Lovely garden flowers, but more seed ticks? Oh, no!!! ❤️
Thank you, TD! There were lots of duds in the batch of goldfinch pics — at least one came out well! Cursed seed ticks, it was the third attack this summer. 🙁
just paradiseical
Thank you, Leelah! ♡
Your photographs are lovely, as always. Did you mean to include narrative? I only saw pictures this time. Is this a test?
Fondly, Janet
Thank you, my friend. By the time I was finished editing and identifying the pictures I found myself simply at a loss for words.
Ugh, I can sympathize, as I picked up 3 tick larva on Sunday and the bites are making me crazy-itchy. Impossible to see, nor remove, I’m realizing I will have to start spraying Deet before I garden once again. I figure the adults will be on the hunt by mid-Sept. I’ve enjoyed the slight reprieve since June. (sigh) Then I’ll be wishing for November!
Misery loves company but I am sorry to hear that you’re itching like crazy, too. I got 8 bites this time, 4 on each leg. I’m kicking myself because I forgot at home the bottle of Permethrin that the locals here use to repel ticks. Lesson learned. (I hope!) It’s funny, I’ve never seen an adult tick since we moved here. Maybe that will change this autumn.
That was an interesting visit to the Botanical Gardens Barbara and the American Goldfinch made it even better. They are such beautiful birds. The Old Man’s Beard is unique as is the Rattlesnake Master. The Sunset Muskmellow is very pretty and delicate. I see the Ironweed sometimes in Jocelyn Anderson’s butterfly photos, just the other day for a Swallowtail I believe. Sorry for the seed tick miseries. We are having cases of West Nile here, so far just in animals, but have to watch for ticks, swat away mosquitoes in case they are carrying West Nile. Dr. Fauci got it from a mosquito in his garden!
There are so many interesting plants down here, a lot of them unique to the southeast. But now I’m paying the piper for those pictures with itchy seed tick bites. I’m losing my mind! And poor Dr. Fauci! I found an article about his west nile virus — he was in the hospital for six days. He said it was the worst he ever felt and I know he had covid so it must have been worse than that. I feel so bad for him. With climate change the mosquito situation is only going to get worse. Sometimes it’s hard to stay in love with mother nature…
I Googled to find out more about seed tick bites after seeing your blog post title. Originally I thought it had something to do with the first image, then I read up on them. A new worry! It’s been no pleasure with all these bugs this year. We’ve had several cases of West Nile, one in my county – one person with it, the rest were birds that died from it. I was shocked to find out about Dr. Fauci getting so sick. He recognized the symptoms right away and it happened in his garden for goodness sake. I’ve been in long sleeves, long pants and calf-high socks all Summer but that’s for sun protection too. Yes, it is hard to stay in love with Mother Nature despite seeing the hummingbird go past me this morning. I did not put out the feeders this year. I even have the drops you put into the nectar to keep it from spoiling, but out in the full sun, I thought the nectar would spoil by the afternoon and be hot from the sun. I know we appreciated the Summers of yesteryear and I wish we could return to them.
Mosquitoes don’t know the difference between a garden or the woods — they are everywhere! That’s why so many municipalities, including New York City, are spraying for them now. At least the seed ticks seem to be too young to be carrying any diseases yet, they haven’t bitten anything else before they bite us. The itching is maddening but it isn’t deadly like west nile or eastern equine encephalitis. We’re not feeding the birds, either. Too many things could go wrong or backfire. I do miss my mother’s birdfeeder outside the dining room window, though. All she had to do was open the window to add more seed. I still remember her rapping on the window to scare the blue jays away, she thought they were bullies. 🙂 But it was nice eating my breakfast and looking at the birds eating, too. Memories. We weren’t worried about spreading avian flu back then.
I’m going to ask Jeff not to put the suet feeder there this Winter. I always fed the birds at the house, but I’m not taking any chances with the avian flu either – too many concerns nowadays. I spread the sunflower seeds at the Park and once someone said to me “at least clean them up – they will get moldy.” They don’t get moldy – the birds and squirrels finish them up and all that’s left is the shells which blow away. After our very high winds on Tuesday night, I saw all the seed shells were gone with the find. We had neighbors whose kitchen window overlooked a perennial garden. In the Winter they had multiple seed feeders in the garden and did like you and after they retired it was a ritual for him and his wife. They’d sit at the window and watch the birds at the feeders while having breakfast. That joy is gone while we learn to live with avian flu. I didn’t put out the hummingbird feeders this year – too hot, the nectar spoils even with special drops. Supposedly hummingbirds are not susceptible to the avian flue as they don’t group together, but a fellow blogger had dozens of hummingbirds at their feeder nightly and fighting for a space to feed, so I wonder if they are therefore susceptible to the avian flu?
I suspect hummingbirds can get avian flu and a whole host of other infections. I saw a hummingbird the last time we were at the botanical garden but before I could lift up my camera it was off to another bush. Found an earwig crawling across the floor this morning — what next? Looking forward to September and it looks like it might cool off again for a few days.
Yes, thinking about the fellow blogger who has so many that he puts his finger out and they perch on his finger, all while vying for a turn at the feeder (he had two feeders for awhile), they are certainly congregating so likely could be spreading avian flu. Those earwigs are the ugliest bugs. I see them here and occasionally in the basement. My floor is tiled light green and the walls in the laundry room are also light green, so I can hone in easily on bugs. We are also having cooler weather tomorrow and Monday – it’s only 70 with low humidity. I think I need to get outside and make it look respectable again. Probably the last pruning for the season. Enjoy your cool temps – I hope you get out to the waterfall and other special places.
Tomorrow will be ‘the pick of the week’ according to the weatherman. Tim is planning to play golf with his brother so maybe I will get a walk in with my sister-in-law and their dog. 🙂
We had a great weather day today – what a gorgeous day and they had also touted it as the best day of the holiday weekend. If every Summer day was like today, you’d never hear a complaint from me. Hope you enjoy your walk Barbara!
I know what you mean, yesterday was a PERFECT weather day! The guys played golf and Fran & I took a walk with her dog, Biscuit. Then we actually ate our lunch outside on the deck and watched the deer family, with three fawns, watching us eat. (Tim finally gave in and tossed them a couple of apples. 😉 )
It’s just a feel-good day with weather so perfect. You’ve waited even longer than I have for humidity-free weather. I over-dressed this morning as it was getting hot by the time I was ready to come home. I am envious of you watching the deer family and fawns while having lunch on the deck. Very nice. I’d be scrambling to find treats for them too!
What’s a seed tick?? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that. Please explain, Barbara! I love the photo of the goldfinch — what a pretty bird! And that small-headed sunflower is such a cheery color!
Here is a good article on seed ticks, Debbie:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/seed-ticks
Basically they are tick nymphs, invisible little monsters. This was the third time they got me this summer. The first time I had 21 bites and had to take steroids the itching was so bad. I never heard of them either before I came here! (Welcome to North Carolina!) But Eliza has them in Massachusetts and calls them tick nymphs.
Thank you, I love the goldfinch shot, too. 🙂
Yuck, now I’m itching all over!! Thanks for the info (really!); something’s always waiting in the wings to cause havoc, isn’t it??
It’s true, I had never heard of or encountered seed ticks until this summer. The itching is intense, 10 times worse than a mosquito bite and it lasts for more than a week!
That sounds dreadful. Does an oatmeal bath or Calomine lotion help at all?
I haven’t tried either of those, but the prescription anti-itch cream the dermatologist gave me helps quite a bit.
Seed ticks sound horrible! *Love the shot of the goldfinch.
Thank you, Tracy! If only getting attacked by seed ticks wasn’t the price paid for getting the photo!